She lived on Wall Street in New York, the daughter of a wealthy Anglican couple, the wife of a prominent businessman, the mother of five children; she was well educated, vivacious, talented in music and horsemanship, fluent in English and French, and well known in the high cultural circles of New York. Who could have guessed what would happen to her at the age of 31?

Our state is also beautiful because of the rich cultural diversity of the people who live here, a diversity that has continued to grow over the years, and is seen in the fact that, in our diocese alone, Mass is celebrated in twelve languages each Sunday!

Members of consecrated life receive special charisms, not so much for their own good as for the good of others, to be integrated into the whole Body of Christ, the Church, and to be channeled into an evangelizing impulse at the service of the Lord. I pray that this may be one of the fruits of the Year of Consecrated Life.

On the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest, St. John Paul II published a memoir which offered a personal glimpse into his priestly heart. He focused on two words, two realities that were the most prominent in his life: mystery and gift — the mystery of Christ and the gift of believing in Him.

A wedding banquet was not when we might have expected Jesus' first miracle. Usually, His miracles cured the sick, healed the leper, fed a hungry crowd of thousands, gave sight to the blind. So why did He work His first miracle at a wedding banquet?